Posts Tagged ‘Calton Hill’

I can hardly believe it’s been two weeks since we got here. The time is flying by so quickly, it’s completely incredible to me.

We slept a little later than usual this morning, and got up in time for a delicious breakfast created by our hosts. Kyle and I had a fabulous omelette topped with salmon and creme freche. Breakfasts here are truly beautiful. Served in the library, the coffee and tea, sugar and cream are all in gorgeous silver. Salt and pepper are in tiny cellars with tiny spoons. The china is blue and white, Delft-style, and the table linens are spotless and perfectly white. And, when the candles get lit, the whole scene sparkles.

Roxy awoke not feeling well this morning, and so missed breakfast and bowed out of the first outing of the day. But, she was already hungry before we left the house, so we are sure she’ll be back on track, soon.

Our first destination today was the Brew Dog Pub on Cowgate. And, in making that plan official, I realized that my favorite little hat shop–Fabhatrix–was right along the way. So, we stopped there first…Mandi and Kyle waited for me and offered their opinions when I asked, and then I encouraged them to go on ahead without me, while I made my final decision. I ended up adopting a fabulous little burgundy wool hat that is charmingly asymmetrical; I added some wonderful little tartan embellishments, and I love it!

I joined them at the pub and helped finish a beer or two, and then we went in search of the Italian restaurant that one of Mandi’s friends had very highly recommended–Ecco Vino. We each had a delightful meal and were thus fortified for come what may! We went next to Deacon Brodie’s–a very popular pub on the Royal Mile. It was like pretty much everyplace we saw–crowded. But, we knew that the longer into the evening we wandered about, the more crowded everyplace would get, so we went on in, ordered pints, and waited for our chance to snag a table. That chance came when a random older gentleman who had gone for another pint, returned to his seat and instead of sitting, he offered the chair to MaritaBeth. After the usual “where are ye from?” conversation, the man told MaritaBeth she had “style” … and that’s why she had a chair! There was much laughter. Those folks left soon thereafter, and Mandi and Kyle took seats. We were hoping Chris and Jen would join us, but we kept missing each other and soon it was time for them to line up for the procession–yep, they decided to buy torches and do the two-mile walk. So, we made plans to meet later in the evening.

When the procession started, we finished up in the pub and walked along with it for a while … taking a few photos and stopping to marvel at the spectacle and just the incredible number of people with torches! We had magical memories of our first Hogmanay in Edinburgh in 2008, and how the lit torches wind through town and create what looks like a river of fire. And, again tonight–magic! There is no way that photographs (especially mine) can ever do it justice. We walked all the way to Princes Street and nearly half way to the foot of Calton Hill. The torch bearers, of course, go all the way behind and then up onto the hill. There were so many people walking this year that an announcement was made that Calton Hill had reached capacity and that torch bearers should stop moving up the hill. As the street filled and compacted with light, we made our way back off Princes Street and onto the North Bridge where we knew we’d have a good view of the fireworks. When the last torches had moved far enough up the street, the fireworks show started. We watched it, and then headed back to the High Street and eventually made our way to a restaurant to meet Chris and Jen. (They had walked the whole procession all the way to the top of Calton Hill, extinguished their torches and walked all the way to the High Street to find that some folks were still waiting to start the walk!)

Dinner was very good, except for a few missing oysters (ask Chris sometime about his almost oyster-less Beef and Oyster Pie.) After dinner, we were of course, not really ready for the evening to fully wind down, so we all headed to the World’s End Pub, so named because it sits on the site of the original city wall and as such, was quite literally the end of the world for many people for centuries.

We had a couple of rounds there, and then walked up the street a ways together, finally allowing the night to end with hugs and promises for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big Hogmanay Street Party! Tonight we sleep!

My photo today, incidentally, is actually from yesterday… I was too busy living today to remember to use my camera!